Secrets of a Great Artist

I started thinking about this yesterday. If I could ask one person to reveal their artistic secrets and knowledge, who would it be? I realized that I wouldn’t ask any of my favorite painters – no Sargent, no Gerome, no Bougereau. I think that I’m always in search of learning new skills, and I’ve always been amazed by classical musicians.

So, as I was thinking along those lines, I’d have to say I would ask John Williams, the great movie composer. Knowing very little about the fundamentals of music composition, I still think music is organized and created much in the same way art is. My questions to him would include ideas around structure, repetition, tone, themes, priority of melody, etc. There are talented composers making music right now, but he is still the most consistent and strongest one that I know.

Ricky Colson is a visual artist known for his paintings of miniature people, animal silhouettes, and Welcome to Autumn series. A native Texan, he's also lived in Pennsylvania and Virginia, where he rediscovered his love for architecture, history, and nature.